IndieBound for iPhone
Posted by matt on Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:40am
After months of hard work, we're proud to announce indie bookstores' first entry into the mobile universe. IndieBound for iPhone spotlights three of IndieBound.org's most popular features: bookseller recommendations, book search, and the Indie Store Finder. Here's a full list of features:
- Browse indie bookseller recommendation lists (The Indie Next List, The Kids Indie Next List) and bestseller lists (The Indie Bestseller Lists)
- Search for books from a comprehensive database of in-print titles
- Review detailed book information
- Buy books online from indie bookstores
- Find local, indie bookstores nearby, or across the United States
- Find other independently-owned businesses, like coffee shops, movie theaters, and bicycle stores
More screenshots & additional info are here.
IndieBound for iPhone is available as a free download through the App Store. It is also compatible with iPod Touch (Internet connection required).
We have much more planned for the app in the future; here's a preview of what's coming.
- E-book functionality
- Select a favorite indie bookstore for repeat shopping
- Integration with your IndieBound Wish List
Let us know what you'd like to see! I'm doing this thing on my own, so have mercy!
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FIND US ON:
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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Jamie Ford Random House |
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Miles from Nowhere Nami Mun Riverhead |
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American Buffalo Steven Rinella Spiegel & Grau |
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The Piano Teacher Janice Y. K. Lee Viking |
Comments
Indiebound for the G1?
Great to see the app--any thoughts of porting this to the tMobile G1 (the google phone, if you will)?
Anything's possible...
We've been asked before, and I wouldn't rule it out, depending on how this app does, how the market shakes out in the future, etc. But here are mitigating factors:
1) One person made our iPhone app: me.
2) iPhone apps are written in Cocoa Touch and Objective-C; Android is Java with its own API. Therefore, you can't really port iPhone code to Android, especially code that relies heavily on Apple's UIKIt elements like ours does. It requires pretty much a complete rewrite and learning another API.
3) We don't have an Android phone around the office I can play with to see what apps for the platform are like. Again, maybe that will change.
More likely, I'd say, is a mobile-optimized version of this website which will work nicely on any smartphone or mobile device.
I'm really digging the app
I'm really digging the app so far and am glad to see that the next version will incorporate IB wish lists. I'd also love to see the Web 2.0 features on the site (friends, favorite stores, &c.) integrated into the app.
And thanks for creating it in the first place!
Would love to see the Blackberry version!
I know you're a one-man shop, but I'd personally love to see a Blackberry version of this, as I've no inclination to ever purchase an iPhone. And Android and WebOS are likely to gain popularity too. Maybe a mobile version would make more sense? Thanks for doing this--it's a great way to promote all sorts of indies.
Speaking of killer apps...
Is this iphone app the greatest thing I've seen Indiebound do? It's securely ranked in my Top Five.
Thanks for the great app
The indiebound app is really useful! It pulls up title info quickly and helps me find nearby stores when I'm on the road. Both much appreciated.
Would love it to display in print/out of print info on the first page, rather than having to click through to a storefront (and be at the mercy of a store's sometimes slow server) to find the availability info.
Great work, Matt.
Rich Rennicks
Parent, Bookseller, Gardener, Graphic Designer, Blogger, Jack-of-many-trades
Asheville, NC